Gordon

The Motivational Manager Everyone Looks For

Managers are the leaders of departments and sections and a lot would rely on how they can effectively perform up to par and get the best out of his subordinates depending on the leadership style that is varied today. Many would instill the democratic manner of leadership while some would use the dictatorial way to stress that he means business. But whatever style is used, performance is the utmost important aspect to measure the effectiveness of a motivational leader that everyone would look up to.

A changing of the guards with regards to managers is normal, especially if the department fails to meet the expectations from its supposed contribution to overall organizational performance. Not all managers are good leaders and it is not hard to assess how. Anyone would only have to look at what his team has accomplished and weigh this out with his shortcomings. This alone speaks widely of how a manager is effective in his tenure of leadership, either a promising or failing leader that has been empowered by upper management.

[tags]leadership, motivation, personnel, performance evaluation[/tags]

Originally posted on November 18, 2007 @ 1:18 am

How to set the price for your products

Pricing isn’t simply about the cost of raw materials, manufacturing and delivery. Consider who you want to sell your product to, how much they make, and what would be affordable for them. It is as much marketing as it is a financial matter. Price your products too low, and the public will perceive it as of a lower quality than the competition. Price it too high, and you maybe alienating your target audience.

Take, for example, the case of the iPhone. When it was first released, it retailed for $599 – fairly expensive for cellular. Mostly, only the die-hard Apple fans and gadget fashionistas went out to buy them. When their niche market was nearly exhausted, Apple made a huge price cut and sold the iPhone for $399 – just 68 days after the product was launched. This was good news to a lot of people, but not to those who already owned an iPhone, and felt the cut was too much, too soon. These once loyal Apple fans felt cheated, prompting Steve Jobs to announce a $100 rebate on all iPhones sold before the price cut. See how messy it can get when you don’t get the price right?

So what should you do?
A common mistake for businesses starting out is to price themselves too low. The public perception of the product is then compromised, and when you raise your prices later, they’ll object by not buying them, or vice versa. Always price the products to turn in a profit. If you’re pricing it substantially more than the competition, make sure you have something to distinguish it as having superior quality. If you’re going to lower prices after the launch, make sure it’s based on thorough research. Have your customers firmly in mind.

Identify your direct competition
Let’s say you have several products of varying quality, consider each of their direct competition from the product lines of a different manufacturer. Check their quality. Are their manufacturing processes more efficient? Is there something better with the products you are making? Create perception, and exploit them. People will gladly pay for quality, provided they can tell why it’s better.

Set your sights on the future
Set a price that goes along with your current long term plans. A price set that doesn’t meet goals now, will not likely meet them later. Price a product for success, and market it accordingly.

Originally posted on December 20, 2007 @ 12:00 am

Familiarization with Your Target Market Class

Businesses are put up for a reason. Once this has been defined, determining the market class to which they would be targeting and serving is the next thing up for analysis. The various consumer buying behaviors should be carefully studied since this would help in evaluating if the current business being developed will be demanded and is actually a need.

Any one can venture out to business, but without proper evaluation and business tools for use, it will not blossom into the promising entity that it was originally forecasted to be. It is a sort of matching game where proper utilization and sourcing of resources will play an important role in keeping operations up to par with business standards and expectation levels.

Analytical approaches for overall business development is still necessary since taking it for granted would render businesses as unstable and may fold up at some point in the course of their borrowed time of existence.

[tags]marketing, target market, business development[/tags]

Originally posted on July 1, 2007 @ 2:07 am

Observe, Test and Execute Approaches

Starting a business on the web is not as easy as most people would think. Many would think that with an Internet connection and unique talent, anyone can start a business as they would want. While the Internet does provide a wide space of business area and promise, primary observations at how people have brought about the entire process is something that will surely be a necessity. It is not a simple place and promotion schematic. It includes a lot of deep analysis and understanding of methodologies and terminologies before a person can truly grasp the whole concept of online business today.

Just like standard business setups, patience and time allocation is also needed. Online businesses are no overnight success. They also need to be given time to bloom and flourish to appreciate profit or income. Stories of instant millionaires are an overstatement. Even if there are people who have hit it big, they are surely known only for a time. Similar to normal business ventures, continuous income and growth is still the important aspect of determining on measuring the success of a business today.

[tags]online business, business planning, business development, income, profit[/tags]

Originally posted on February 4, 2007 @ 10:32 pm

How to Work on Budgeted Working Capital

Business ventures and concepts are developed largely according to what an entrepreneur would deem it to be. Business planning and careful evaluation of the operations management proceedings is something that would take the bulk of the whole business concept. For some however, it would also depend largely on the agreed invested capital to be able to start the business.

Knowing the extent of the financial structure and foundation that company owners are inputting into the business can provide a better overview with regards to determining the market class and level of business that they are aiming for. It is in these cases where people can more or less assess the point at which a business will reach and the extent to which it will survive as well based on periodic assessment of business operations.

For some people, working on a budget may not be convenient, but it is a realistic view on where they will find themselves as a whole. A business may aim high, but it would be best to know how high a business should get through the allocated budget capital.

[tags]start-up capital, working capital, business, entrepreneur[/tags]

Originally posted on February 24, 2007 @ 10:50 pm

Impulse Decision-Making Leads to Turmoil

In the fast paced world of business, the common practice of making immediate decisions for various areas of operations and administrative work is only normal. But in most cases, this would lead toward questionable calls once there is no proper evaluation of the matter at hand. Weighing out the pros and cons of such an impromptu decision-making process will surely be something leading to gaps and loopholes in the handed decision.

While most organizations would want immediate action and results, acting immaturely on such issues would lead towards overlooking areas for consideration such as overriding departments or worse conflicts in the organizational structure, including authority and protocol.

Bypassing and overriding the normal procedures would usually lead towards finger pointing in most cases, and once the real issue at hand is not contained, will lead to organizational turmoil and unrest, something that may very well affect the whole organization and create more harm than effectiveness overall.

Originally posted on February 12, 2007 @ 1:59 pm